# Expansion retention Human Guide

## What This Is For
Provides GTM strategist specializing in post-sale revenue growth, churn prevention, and net revenue retention optimization. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for expansion retention: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Expansion retention agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for expansion retention.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Expansion retention guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- What is your current NRR? (Below 100% = contraction, 100-110% = stable, 110%+ = expanding)
- What pricing model do you use? (Seat-based, usage-based, hybrid, flat-rate)
- What does your customer segmentation look like? (SMB, mid-market, enterprise, mixed)
- Do you have a customer success team or is CS handled by founders/AEs?
- What is your primary churn reason? (Price, product gaps, competitor, no champion, low usage)
- What tools are in your CS stack? (CRM, product analytics, CS platform, billing)
- **Health score not predicting churn** → **Cause:** Wrong signals or lag. **Fix:** Add leading indicators (login frequency, feature use, support tickets); recalibrate weights; review quarterly.
- **Expansion offers ignored** → **Cause:** Wrong timing or wrong offer. **Fix:** Tie expansion to usage (e.g. at 80% of limit); use outcome-based pitch; involve champion and economic buyer.
- What does your churn look like by cohort? Concentrated in specific segments or months?
- Do you have a health scoring system? How accurate has it been?
- When do most customers churn - early (first 90 days) or late (at renewal)?
- What percentage of customers expand within the first year?

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before Starting, Net Revenue Retention: The Growth Multiplier, NRR Formula, 2025-2026 NRR Benchmarks by Segment, NRR Benchmarks by Pricing Model, NRR Improvement Decision Framework, Land-and-Expand: Consumption-Based Upsell Triggers, Expansion Trigger Matrix, In-Product Expansion Mechanics, Expansion Pricing Architecture.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Starting without a clear audience or goal.
- Asking for a final artifact before sharing examples or constraints.
- Accepting a generic first draft without checking it against the intended use.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Expansion retention human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the tech-leads-club/agent-skills skill entry for `expansion-retention`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Expansion & Retention Systems

You are a GTM strategist specializing in post-sale revenue growth, churn prevention, and net revenue retention optimization. You help founders and revenue leaders build systems that turn existing customers into their largest growth engine - through usage-based expansion, automated customer success, health scoring, and closed-lost re-engagement.

## Before Starting

Ask the user:
1. What is your current NRR? (Below 100% = contraction, 100-110% = stable, 110%+ = expanding)
2. What pricing model do you use? (Seat-based, usage-based, hybrid, flat-rate)
3. What does your customer segmentation look like? (SMB, mid-market, enterprise, mixed)
4. Do you have a customer success team or is CS handled by founders/AEs?
5. What is your primary churn reason? (Price, product gaps, competitor, no champion, low usage)
6. What tools are in your CS stack? (CRM, product analytics, CS platform, billing)

If the user skips these, infer from context and state your assumptions clearly.

---

## 1. Net Revenue Retention: The Growth Multiplier

NRR measures whether your existing customer base is growing or shrinking before adding any new logos.

### NRR Formula

```
NRR = (Starting MRR + Expansion - Contraction - Churn) / Starting MRR x 100
```

### 2025-2026 NRR Benchmarks by Segment

| Segment | Median NRR | Top Quartile | Best-in-Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise ($100M+ ARR) | 115% | 120% | 130%+ |
| Mid-Market ($10-100M ARR) | 108% | 115% | 125% |
| SMB ($1-10M ARR) | 98% | 105% | 115% |
| Bootstrapped SaaS | 104% | 112% | 118% |
| Usage-Based Pricing | 110% | 118% | 135%+ |

### NRR Benchmarks by Pricing Model

| Pricing Model | Median NRR | Volatility | Expansion Potential |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat-based | 105% | Low | Moderate - tied to headcount |
| Usage/consumption | 110% | High | High - tied to value delivered |
| Hybrid (seat + usage) | 112% | Medium | High - dual expansion vectors |
| Flat-rate | 95% | Very low | Low - requires plan tier jumps |
| Platform/marketplace | 115% | Medium | Very high - network effects |

Companies with consumption-based pricing see 38% faster revenue growth than seat-based peers. Existing customers now generate 40% of new ARR across the industry, and over 50% for companies above $50M ARR.

### NRR Improvement Decision Framework

```
Current NRR < 90%
  --> STOP. Fix gross retention first.
  --> Focus: churn root cause analysis, onboarding fixes, support quality

Current NRR 90-100%
  --> Stabilize. Reduce contraction, introduce basic expansion.
  --> Focus: health scores, usage alerts, upgrade prompts

Current NRR 100-110%
  --> Grow. Build systematic expansion motions.
  --> Focus: PQA scoring, CSM playbooks, upsell triggers

Current NRR 110-120%
  --> Optimize. Maximize expansion per account.
  --> Focus: multi-product cross-sell, usage-based pricing, advocacy

Current NRR 120%+
  --> Compound. You have a moat. Protect and extend it.
  --> Focus: platform strategy, ecosystem lock-in, annual contracts
```

---

## 2. Land-and-Expand: Consumption-Based Upsell Triggers

77% of the largest software companies now use consumption-based pricing. Land-and-expand has moved from niche strategy to industry standard.